# Song of the Redwood-Tree explained — Leaves of Grass

> Chapter companion for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.

## What happens

A majestic redwood tree, personified as a dying giant, sings its farewell as it is felled by loggers. The tree celebrates its life and its sacrifice for the coming of a new, democratic civilization, embodied by the 'race of races' that will build a grand future on the American continent.

## Themes in this chapter

### Celebration of Nature and the Universe

The redwood is portrayed as a sublime, ancient being whose life and death are part of a cosmic cycle, celebrating its existence even as it falls.

### America and Its People

The poem envisions America as a 'race of races' destined to build a grand, democratic civilization, with the redwood's sacrifice enabling this future.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The poet who listens to the redwood's song and interprets its meaning for humanity.

### America

The land and the emerging nation for which the redwood sacrifices itself, envisioned as a place of democracy and industry.

### Democracy

The ideal of equality and collective progress that the redwood heralds as the future of the continent.

## Key lines

> Farewell my brethren, / Farewell O earth and sky, farewell ye neighboring waters, / My time has ended, my term has come.

The redwood tree bids a final goodbye to its surroundings, accepting that its life cycle is complete.

_The tree's dignified acceptance of death as a natural and necessary transition._

> I see the race of races, / The dominant race, the race of the future, / That shall possess the earth, and build upon it cities, farms, and ships.

The redwood envisions a new, dominant human civilization that will use the land to create a prosperous society.

_The tree's prophetic vision of American expansion and progress._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters/song-of-the-redwood-tree
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leaves_of_grass_se/chapters